Atacama Desert: Driest Place on Earth Hit with Snow

The Atacama Desert has been experiencing an unusual amount of snow. The cold front that came through the region dumped nearly 32 inches of snow on the desert -- more snow then the region has seen in the last half-century. The Atacama Desert is known as one of the driest place on Earth. The Atacama averages just 2 inches of precipitation a year; there are regions in the Atacama that have never seen a drop of recorded rain. The desert stretches roughly 600 miles from Peru's southern border into northern Chile.

Cold temperatures and snowy weather have been affecting other regions of Latin America as well. Earlier this month, the classic Inca Trail trek was actually closed for a few days due to the unusual and heavy snow fall. It has since re-opened.